WEB2.0 Doesn’t exist for Most People

I just realized something – that my activity in the WEB2.0 community (blogging, Twittering, using Ning, Second Life, listening to podcasts, attending online teacher discussions (right Nellie D.) etc.), since June has decreased significantly! Why is that? I have a couple of theories:

1. As a teacher I was more more focused on the future and how to prepare my students for their future. So I was far more interested in trying new applications, discussing new ideas with other teachers online and seeing if new software (especially free stuff) was applicable and useable as a part of my “duty” to my students. Now I am much more grounded in the day-to-day workload, planning to prepare RFPs, work with sub-grantees, and other coordinating activities. I have more of an oversight type of job. In this position those I work with are responsible for their own learning.

2. Most of the software that I use – is chosen for me. Working on the computer in Government is Windows based and Microcentric — so things like M/S Office, Internet Explorer, Adobe, etc are the software applications. It takes away a lot of the need for “searching” or “finding” new software/cloud applications and trying to figure out how integrate the new “things” into my class. I don’t have to show others that there are a variety of different applications that do the same things.

This doesn’t mean that I will give up on trying new applications or software, it just means that it isn’t part of my job anymore. My priorities and focus have changed a lot in the past three months. Before I was a huge advocate of Web 2.0 technologies and couldn’t understand why more people were not using them.

Now I understand the other side much better, that Web2.0 applications simply are not part of their lives — they rely on specific applications to get their work done.

No matter – I plan to continue exploring and using Web2.0 applications and letting others know — Zoho and Google Docs are an example – I gave a presentation a couple of weeks ago on using the sharing function and 90% of the audience had never heard of Zoho. So I have spread the Zoho love some more :). Or the free web based meeting applications to enable us to have meetings and save travel expenses for participants (Skype or DimDim).

Here’s to Web2.0 tools and let’s keep the fires burning, but in my case at a much lower level than before.

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In other words take responsibility for your own actions and think about what you are doing before YOU do it.